What we offer

Our main driver in all that we do at Cairn Mhor is to support all our children/young people and staff to be all they can be.

This means we don’t take things for granted – we continually look to see what each person needs in their life at that point of time to allow them to be at their best.

Our teams all practice in a reflective way and they, in turn, encourage the children and young people to use reflection in their lives. Support and praise and positive feedback are essential for this and we ensure that every day each child and young person chats over a reflective account prepared by staff and addressed to each of them setting out how they have enjoyed their day – what they have learnt and if appropriate suggestions on how they can develop going forward – from being able to go to the shops on their own or just to make their own cup of tea and most importantly to manage their own behaviour and any disappointments and frustrations.

It is also essential that we fulfil the tougher role of supporting them when life is challenging and not just taking the line of least resistance. Assisting them to look to the long term future and how they can gain control over their own lives and choices. We use love and care to support them to make the right decisions as often as they can. We don’t just do it once we are persistent with the goal that they will eventually instinctively be able to self-regulate and know what is the right choice for them.

Staff benefit from having a very detailed analysis of their strengths and areas for development which are reviewed at both supervision and at appraisal time. More importantly this is discussed at team meetings on a daily/weekly basis to ensure that team members are all working in harmony with each other strengths.